After former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal vacated the Civil Lines bungalow on October 4, 2024, Atishi had shifted to the house on October 6. However, she was asked to vacate the premises on October 9 by the officials of PWD, a department she heads. She vacated the bungalow the same day.

Maintaining that an official “handover” of the property from Kejriwal to the department is yet to take place, PWD officials had then said the house has been sealed. The officials had also said that inventory of the bungalow was not complete and while Atishi was in possession of the keys for the bungalow, she did not have the official allotment letter.

The PWD officially allotted the house to Atishi on October 11. She accepted the offer on October 14. The ‘authority slip’ was issued by the PWD on October 16 with validity up to October 23, 2024 – during this period, Atishi had to shift to the bungalow.

“However, the Chief Minister, Delhi, did not take physical possession of the bungalow, but only took technical possession on October 23, through her representative Aswathi Muralidharan PS (personal secretary)… On the same day, an email was issued to the CM, with the request to arrange to conduct a joint visit with PWD engineers to the bungalow, as has been the normal practice for taking possession of allotted houses. On October 26, a reminder email was issued… no response had been received,” PWD said in the letter.

Department officials said the keys of the bungalow are still in the custody of the Central and New Delhi Division of PWD. Officials also said that the inspection of the bungalow was carried out on December 10, 20204, and it was found to be in a “very good and habitable condition”.

“Since no repair work was required… and having declared the bungalow as habitable… a ‘Habitability Certificate’ was also issued… Thereafter, the executive engineer had requested the CM to take physical possession immediately. Further, the assistant engineer concerned also forwarded a detailed status note to the PWD secretariat on December 12…,” said the letter.

It added that on December 18, the department received a communication from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) that they want to inspect the bungalow and suggest renovation/repairs required, if any.

As per the letter, a joint inspection was carried out on December 24 and the bungalow was found in a “very good and habitable condition”. “…though the representative of CM orally suggested some minor repair works, no formal communication was made from the CMO…,” said the letter, adding that all the 14 suggestions given orally the CM’s representative were “attended” to.

The CM, however, is yet to move into the house, it further said. “…As per provisions… if the allottee failed to take physical occupation of the house within five working days from the date of issue of ‘Habitability Certificate’, the allotment shall be cancelled automatically,” the letter added.

Further, the PWD maintained that the bungalow was not the designated house for the CM and belonged to the General Pool category.

It further said that the house is already “under investigation”. Last month, the Vigilance Directorate had asked the PWD to initiate a probe on who or which organisation provided the “lavish items” found at the bungalow, after it was vacated by Kejriwal in October 2004.

“…the need for periodic visits to the bungalow by investigating/inquiring agencies and PWD engineers cannot be ruled out… It is, therefore, desirable to keep the possession of the said bungalow with PWD… to assist the ongoing audit…,” the letter added.

The AAP, meanwhile, alleged that the BJP-led Centre has snatched away the official residence of the Delhi CM. Addressing mediapersons, Atishi said, “An official residence does not matter to me. I will work for the people of Delhi from the streets if needed… When they snatched away my official residence, I pledged to provide Rs 2,100 to our women. I will provide free healthcare to our elderly,” she said.

Kejriwal, meanwhile, posted on X: “Within three months, BJP again expelled Chief Minister Atishiji from the Chief Minister’s residence. These people are showing their frustration by abusing Atishiji and throwing her out of the house. BJP is losing the Delhi elections badly and hence, these people have resorted to such dirty politics.”